The Arizona sentinel., 1887-12-17
The ICE SUPPLY.
why Farmers Must Exercise Great Care Ia
Filling Their Ice-Houses.

why Farmers Must Exercise Great Care In
Filling Their Ice-HOuses.
think l am safe in saying that too
much care in the selection of the ice
can not be exercised. Some people
have the erroneous idea that freezing
purifies water. After very drouthy
summer like this, it is no easy matter
to get fit ice. Typhoid fever is almost
an epidemic in many places, and al
most throughout the drought region
is widely prevalent showing that
the water is unwholesome and
likely to remain so for some time. The
rains that have broken the drought
have not made the contents of our
wells. ponds and streams any purer;
and it will require very heavy rains to
carry from the land the excess of I'M
wholesome matters. We must exer-
else unusual care this winter in filling
our ice-houses, or their contents will
be curse instead of blessing.
Ponds and creeks are so low that to
get pure ice-if not to get ice at all
may be necessary to fill tight boxes
and troughs with water from the wells,
to freeze As soon as the ice is three
inches thick it will answer. Thicker
ice may be got by putting in the
trough night and morning only what
water will freeze during the next
twelve hours. Thus we. are continually
adding ice at the top. where it can be
put on more rapidly than at the bot
tom. Getting ice in this way is der
rater resort, but it is better than I'M
wholesome ice or no ice at all.
The secret of good packing is not in
big blocks, but in getting the blocks
close together. Hence the blocks
should be cut carefully. that their sides
may be straight; otherwise there can
not be a good fit Any crevices
should be filled with crushed
ice. If the weather is quite cold,
pour water over the ice until the
crevices are full; in this way the con-
tents of the house may be frozen into
one solid mass. This will keep better,
not on account of the size of the blocks,
but because there are no crevices in it
to be occupied by air. When the house
is filled, cover the top of the ice with
layer of sawdust foot thick tramped
down well, or a layer of hay two feet
thick. The Ice is built up only as high
as the caves.
Nearly every person has his own way
of cutting ice. This is my way. with
out special tools: We get board,
twelve feet long and two feet wide.
Take the ''shad-bellied" cross-cut saw,
and kneeling on the board, saw into
the ice two inches deep along both
edges of the board. The board is then
slid along the proper space, twice its
own width, which it measures on the
ice, and the saw is again used. Cross
cuts are made in the same way. By this
plan we get all our cuts straight. and
the blocks of the same size-no lmean
points in proper packing. Unless the
ice is very thick, it can be separated
along these cuts, or seams, by an axe
(broad axe is besO or even a spade.
For towing the blocks ashore a stout
garden rake answers well; or for few
cents a blacksmith will make a hook |
to drive into the end of pole. Haul
the ice on the sled. No matter if there |
is no snow-the ground is frozen. You
can load the ice twice as quickly on a
sled as on a wagon. Back the end of
the sled down to the brink, and lay a
board from the box to the ice; then |
the blocks can he drawn up this board
into the box. After the board gets |
little icy the blocks slide "slick rs
grease" and it is always cheaper to
slide than to lift ice. The colder the
weather when the ice is cut and stored,
the better for the ice, though the
harder on fingers and es.-John NJ
Stdbl, in Country Gentleman.